Out of the Box

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

There are still some occasional A.I. issues with the gameplay. Opponents can be slightly stupid and don't react realistically at times. Tag team partners sometimes don't come to your aid exactly at the right time. And as we mentioned in our preview, the Money in the Bank mode exemplifies what happens when one player takes on five dimwitted CPU opponents.

As for the game's three modes, there's Season mode, PPV mode, and GM mode. In PPV mode, players will reenact this year's pay-per-view cards, up to Vengeance. Current or upcoming events can also be recreated by players. So far, we've got a good amount of time in on our season with Edge, and the storyline branches in a multitude of directions. According to the game's creative manager, Cory Ledesma, the storyline will twist and turn into forty possible plots, based on the player's decisions, popularity, and what TV show he/she aligns with. GM mode is just as complex and detailed as last year's game, although we still have to put in some more time on it before delivering a final verdict.

Achievements range from creating a superstar successfully to beating a certain number of opponents online to beating every superstar on the game's roster. They're not terrible achievements by any stretch of the imagination, but since we're further ahead on the PS2 game, it's tough to go back to the 360 version to unlock a lot of them. This, of course, won't be a problem for most gamers. In a relieving move, Yuke's has finally enabled the trading of created superstars online. Does your opponent's Jeff Hardy look better than yours? Trade him your created Mountie. Yeah, I said the Mountie.

Because of the nature of SmackDown vs Raw's servers on PS2, we're a bit cautious about stamping a seal of approval for anyone wanting to get online. Last year's game had some pretty flawed multiplayer, and could have nailed a five-star score were it not for server drops and lag. However, we look forward to playing on Xbox Live, which usually has significantly better implementation. Suffice it to say, in spite of the Xbox 360 version's load times, and despite our concerns about the PS2 version because of past titles' online problems, we have confidence in this title based on the rich single-player experience and fun gameplay mechanics. After we put in some more time online with the game, we'll deliver our final verdict!